Moving Day(s)

It feels like we've been moving for months and it's a good thing!  Preparing to get 2,000 square feet + garage + yard stuff into a Pod started back in February and even now as we wind down, there are still some odds and ends that need a home.

We merged, purged and divested ourselves of years of goodies.  Loaned some, gave some away, donated loads to Big Brothers/Sisters, Salvation Army and filled countless trash bags.  I am a pack rat like my Mother and I can't bear to get rid of Cris' school year memorabilia, wedding gifts, photographs framed back in the 80's - anything with sentimental value and I'm a total sap. I wish Cris and Brad luck with going through all the stuff someday as I figure I'll keep lugging it around wherever we go and then they can deal with it!

Here's a couple of pics of the pod and packing.  Now that this is done, we've got lots more to do which includes packing our stuff for London (eventually), cleaning and making sure the Landlord is happy enough to return our deposit.

Monday we are off to Kentucky where we'll hang our hats for hopefully a short period before we head across the pond.  Thanks in advance to Cathy and Ed for putting us up (putting up with us)!

 16x8x8

 Boxes are 3 deep!

Half way

 Bye bye stuff!  See you in about a year.

A Little Side Trip

A bit of a quandary presented itself as we approach June 30 the day we need to move out of our rented house. The UK has not yet approved our paperwork so moving directly from Phoenix to London is not an option. So what to do? We definitely want to leave Phoenix as there is no place to stay except for a hotel and since it's already 108 on a daily basis, we're opting to leave. Deb and Kirt have a great place down in Kentucky but it's kind of remote and the worse part is that it's in a dry county. Imagine running out of beer and having to drive 3 hours round trip for a six pack. Ewww!

But Kentucky is an obvious choice since we have family there but needed a place to sleep and work. I called Cathy with our dilemma and there is a vacancy at the Baer Inn! She and Ed have graciously invited us to stay with them and we're very happy to have a place to hang our hat and be with folks we love.

We're in the midst of deciding what goes in the pod and what goes to London and what do we do with what is left over? Cris and Jess are taking a bunch of stuff. They've been great about keeping some of our stuff till we get back from London but I can't imagine asking for much of it back. We decided to hire Pod Packers, experts who know how to pack household goods in a pod. Doing that ourselves is risky as we could end up with bad packing and wasted space. As it is, I'm not sure we will get it all in! May have to rent a storage unit. But some will go to Salvation Army and Big Brothers/Sisters so not a total loss.

It's really hard for me to get much sleep while trying to pack in my mind. I lay awake at night wondering and worrying about how we'll get it all done in time.  But it will have to get done so we can get the place cleaned and ready for the landlord to view on Saturday 6/30.

Brad and Christi are in town the weekend of the move so we'll be lucky enough to see them again before we head out. Hope to spend as much time as we can with them. Cris is taking off all of next week so I'm going to see him as often as I can and try not to think about leaving cause even now I start to choke up. We've not been apart for more than a couple of weeks in 28 years so this is gonna be one tough goodbye. Tears starting even now:(

I'll write again from the K-Y! That's home and I look forward to lush green hillsides and lots of family around to spend time with while we await "go" for London. The humidity, on the other hand, not so much!